MINEHEAD is to host a regional conference for public, private and voluntary organisations to mark the turning point reached by the rural business sector.
The event, called Turning Point, aims to provide a vision of the future in a bid to strengthen the economy.
Among the driving forces behind the conference on March 14 are the South West of England Regional Development Agency and South West Tourism.
RDA deputy chairman Jeremy Pope said: "Our rural economy across the South West is at a turning point. This will be an occasion to look forward with confidence, however, to ensure we can all work together to create a healthier and more prosperous rural economy for the future.
"Across the whole region, we must replace doubt with optimism and identify where each individual, each business, each community and each regional body can strive to make a real difference.
"I look forward to Turning Point being a loud voice for a new spirit and a new direction."
South West Tourism head of business development Caroline Webster said the rural economy and tourism were integrated and the conference was an opportunity for all types of businesses in the South West to "come together, to network, to learn from examples of success and above all to be inspired to shape the future".
South West Chamber of Commerce chief executive Nigel Hutchings said events at home and abroad over the past year had seriously affected most businesses and left the economy delicately balanced.
The 10,000-member chamber was concerned that many businesses lacked the expertise or financial reserves to carry them through.
The conference, he said, would provide a focus for them and show them options for regeneration or a radical change of direction.
NFU South West regional director Anthony Gibson said the rural economy was in convalescence and recovery lay in its own hands: "What we hope will come out of the conference is a compelling vision of the future with which the whole rural community can identify and be inspired by.
"Then the conference needs to point delegates in the right direction to make recovery happen."
Living Exmoor chairman Judy Carless said there was a desperate need for all those involved in the regeneration of the countryside to join forces.
She said Turning Point was an awareness raising opportunity also providing information to all sectors of the business community and feeding back to regional and central government.
Business people wanting tickets or details should phone 01823 274711 or write to Ilex, 10 The Crescent, Taunton.